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Thinkbox Software announces Draft

Thinkbox Software has announced Draft, a new plugin for its Deadline renderfarm-management software intended to automate the creation of QuickTimes, thumbnails, contact sheets and other common deliverables.

PRESS RELEASE (Excerpts)
Thinkbox Software today announced the release of Draft, a lightweight compositing and video processing tool designed to automate typical post-render tasks. Draft is a plug-in for Thinkbox’s Deadline render farm management software that automates the creation and processing of QuickTimes, thumbnails and other deliverables in a pipeline. Draft will be unveiled at the SIGGRAPH Conference at the Thinkbox Software booth (#937), at the Los Angeles Convention Center August 7-9, 2012.

Key features of Draft include:

Prepare renders for editorial without any user intervention

Generates slates using metadata provided by a production management database such as Shotgun Software

Automatically converts renders to a variety of formats as needed

Resizes, composites, and converts images

Text annotation system that renders slates and templates for video clips

“Draft allows you to streamline your workflow by saving you from having to manually create QuickTimes, thumbnails, contact sheets, or other production elements,” said Chris Bond, founder of Thinkbox Software. “Whatever you render is automatically converted into formats you need or assembled as QuickTimes and information from your database can be automatically imported – an artist can submit one render and get a dozen different deliverables pushed out automatically, allowing you to focus on the art.”

Draft has been in beta at several VFX houses, including Encore VFX in Hollywood. 2D Supervisor Jane Sharvina explains: “In a production environment focused on episodic TV work, Draft is invaluable. With hundreds of shots to deliver each day, having the client deliverables as well as the internal review clips already generated by the time the shot is reviewed is a huge help. It not only frees up editorial, but it also ties into Shotgun so we have no questions about getting the correct version number.”

Draft is free for clients on an active support & maintenance subscription with Deadline.